Ryerson (NYSE:RYI) Shares Gap Up on Strong Earnings

Shares of Ryerson Holding Co. (NYSE:RYI) gapped up before the market opened on Friday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $22.95, but opened at $25.36. Ryerson shares last traded at $25.57, with a volume of 68,631 shares.

The basic materials company reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.48) by $0.34. Ryerson had a negative return on equity of 0.70% and a negative net margin of 0.19%. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1 billion.

Ryerson Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.1875 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $0.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.09%. Ryerson’s payout ratio is -288.46%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ryerson

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RYI. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Ryerson by 85.8% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,329,803 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $43,125,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075,963 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ryerson by 164.8% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,150,498 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $22,906,000 after buying an additional 715,990 shares in the last quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC bought a new position in shares of Ryerson in the fourth quarter valued at $6,255,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ryerson by 31.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 847,514 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,874,000 after buying an additional 203,314 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JB Capital Partners LP increased its holdings in shares of Ryerson by 4.0% in the third quarter. JB Capital Partners LP now owns 2,131,069 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $42,430,000 after buying an additional 82,313 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.81% of the company’s stock.

Ryerson Price Performance

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.16. The company has a market cap of $772.04 million, a P/E ratio of -93.23 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

About Ryerson

Ryerson Holding Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, processes and distributes industrial metals in the United States and internationally. It offers a line of products in carbon steel, stainless steel, alloy steels, and aluminum, as well as nickel and red metals in various shapes and forms, including coils, sheets, rounds, hexagons, square and flat bars, plates, structural, and tubing.